How refreshing to see there were others who noticed what my husband and I noticed in the dinner club photo: one person among eight to 10 people sitting at the dinner table with his bright yellow cap still on his head as the group prayed and ate.

Manners are important. Parents should instill good table manners when their children are young. If this had been a sit-down dinner with the president of the United States, I wonder if this person would have thought to remove his cap. Maybe not.

Still, one would think the person who arranged the shoot or the photographer might have asked him to remove the cap.

While some San Antonio residents have expressed disdain toward the passing of Pre-K 4 SA, the future of San Antonio is brighter than ever.

By impacting children during the most impressionable phase of their lives, the program will improve the lives of millions.

Early education will affect every individual in the community in several ways, including reducing juvenile delinquency, producing jobs, and creating revenue for the city and country.

It also will help these children grow into educated adults and potentially decrease negative reinforcements that could lead the children to less productive avenues.

In addition to benefits to the San Antonio community, the children will become more competitive on a global level. With Pre-K 4 SA, we are investing in our youth, many of whom may not have had an opportunity to become invested in education at a young age.We are not only investing in the future of our children, we are investing in the future of San Antonio.

The Express-News has published editorials and letters decrying the practice of straight-ticket voting, sometimes implying that straight-ticket voters do so blindly.

Well, I'm a straight-ticket voter, but I'm not blind.

Texas is suffering from the blight of a Republican agenda that is destroying public and higher education, overseeing a degeneration of public works, and over a decade of gerrymandering that has helped keep Republicans in positions of power by subverting the democratic process.

Republican judges support and participate in this agenda by feeding the overcrowded and expensive Texas prison system.

Judges with experience move up in the judicial system, either by appointment or election to higher-level benches.

In those higher positions, they begin to rule on repressive immigration cases, the legality of gerrymandering, overly harsh punishment for nonviolent offenders, and the legality of defunding public education.

So until judicial races become nonpartisan, I will happily continue to vote straight-party Democrat, and that will include my votes for judges.